The 2024 Canadian Premier League final was the sixth edition of the CPL Finals, the post-season championship of the Canadian Premier League, the top level of Canadian soccer, which determined the winner of the 2024 Canadian Premier League season. It was played on November 9, 2024 at ATCO Field in Foothills County, Alberta between Cavalry FC and Forge FC. The 2024 final was a rematch of the 2023 final which was hosted and won by Forge FC.[2]
| Event | 2024 Canadian Premier League season | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Date | November 9, 2024 | ||||||
| Venue | ATCO Field, Foothills County, Alberta | ||||||
| CPL Finals MVP | Tobias Warschewski | ||||||
| Referee | Renzo Villanueva | ||||||
| Attendance | 7,052 | ||||||
| Weather | Cloudy 4 °C (39 °F) 65% humidity[1] | ||||||
Cavalry defeated Forge 2–1 to win their first CPL title. Tobias Warschewski and Sergio Camargo scored first half goals to give Cavalry a 2–0 half-time lead; Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson responded for Forge in the second half. Following the match, Warschewski was named the inaugural CPL Final MVP. Cavalry was awarded the North Star Cup as CPL champion and earned a spot in the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup.[3]
Path to the final
editThe 2024 CPL season was contested by eight teams. Each team played four games against each of the seven opponents for a total of 28 matches. The top-five teams from the regular season qualified for the playoffs which begin on October 23. The playoffs featured a Page playoff format where teams entered in different rounds depending on their finishing position. All matches in the playoffs were played as single legs. The finals were contested by the winner of the playoffs' first semifinal and the winner of the second semifinal.[4][5]
Regular season standings
edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Playoff qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Forge (S) | 28 | 15 | 5 | 8 | 45 | 31 | +14 | 50 | First semifinal |
| 2 | Cavalry (C) | 28 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 39 | 27 | +12 | 48 | |
| 3 | Atlético Ottawa | 28 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 42 | 31 | +11 | 44 | Quarterfinal |
| 4 | York United | 28 | 11 | 6 | 11 | 35 | 36 | −1 | 39 | Play-in round |
| 5 | Pacific | 28 | 9 | 7 | 12 | 27 | 32 | −5 | 34 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Total number of wins; 3) Head-to-head; 4) Goal differential; 5) Goals for; 6) Away goals differential; 7) Away goals for; 8) Home goals differential; 9) Home goals for; 10) Fewest disciplinary points;[a] 11) Most under-21 domestic player minutes; 12) Coin toss (tie between two (2) clubs) or drawing of lots (tie between three (3) or more clubs).[4]
(C) Champion (qualified to Champions Cup Round one); (S) CPL Shield winner (qualified to Champions Cup Round one)
Notes
- ^ Yellow cards count for one point and red cards (direct or accumulation of two yellow cards) count as three points.[4]
Playoff bracket
edit| Play-in round | First semifinal | Second semifinal | Final | |||||||||||||||
| October 27 | November 9 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Forge FC | 0 | 2 | Cavalry FC | 2 | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Cavalry FC | 1 | November 2 | 1 | Forge FC | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Forge FC | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| Quarterfinal | 3 | Atlético Ottawa | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| October 27 | ||||||||||||||||||
| October 23 | 3 | Atlético Ottawa (p) | 2 (5) | |||||||||||||||
| 4 | York United | 2 | 4 | York United | 2 (4) | |||||||||||||
| 5 | Pacific FC | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
Background
editCavalry FC
editCavalry reached the CPL final for third time in six seasons.
Forge FC
editForge qualified for the CPL playoffs on September 21[6] and clinched first place and the top seed in the playoffs on October 6.[7]
Following a 1–0 win against Atlético Ottawa on November 2, Forge FC qualified for a record-extending sixth consecutive CPL final. Forge attempted to win their fifth CPL championship and tried to become the first CPL team to win the double by winning the CPL Shield and the North Star Cup in the same season.
Head-to-head
editThe 2024 CPL final was the sixth meeting of the season between these two teams and the twenty-sixth overall. Forge had the advantage in the 2024 regular season against Cavalry, leading the head-to-head with two wins, one draw, and one loss and finishing two points ahead in the standings. This was the second consecutive CPL final between Cavalry and Forge and the third overall. The previous occurrences in 2019 and 2023 were both won by Forge FC.
As the top-two teams in regular season, Forge hosted Cavalry in the first semifinal which was a non-elimination game. Cavalry won the game and earned the right to host the CPL final while Forge qualified to the second semifinal as losers. The match was the 29th of 31 games between the teams that was decided by one goal or fewer.[8]
Venue
editATCO Field in Foothills County, Alberta, home of Cavalry FC, was the host stadium for the final.[9] This was determined by the outcome of the playoffs' first semifinal on October 27 between regular season winner Forge FC and second seed Cavalry FC;[4][5] Cavalry won the match 1–0.[9] ATCO Field has previously hosted the second leg of the 2019 Canadian Premier League finals.
Broadcasting
editThe CPL final continued to be broadcast on OneSoccer. On October 9, the CPL and CBC jointly announced that the CBC would also broadcast the final for the first time since 2020 on its platforms CBC TV, CBC Gem, and cbcsports.ca.[10][11]
Pre-match
editAs part of its broadcasting announcement, the CPL announced that the final would be played on November 9 at 3:00 pm ET.[10][11] The CPL confirmed the date and time following Cavalry's win in the first semifinal.[9]
Associated with the final, the annual Canadian Premier League Awards took place on November 7 in Calgary.[9][12] Matchday will feature a "FanFest" headlined by singer Lu Kala.[9][12]
Match
edit| Cavalry FC | 2–1 | Forge FC |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Post-match
editThis section needs to be updated. (November 2024) |
Cavalry was awarded the North Star Cup, crowned CPL champions, and qualifed for the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup.[4][10] However, as a result of both Cavalry and Forge qualifying for the final, Cavalry had already qualified for the Champions Cup regardless of whether they won the final.[13][a]
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ Forge had previously secured qualification for the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup as CPL Shield winners.[14]
References
edit- ^ "Calgary, Canada Weather History | Weather Underground". www.wunderground.com. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
- ^ Wharnsby, Tim (October 28, 2023). "Borges scores 'Olimpico' goal as Forge FC completes comeback to win 4th CPL title". CBC Sports. The Canadian Press. Archived from the original on November 8, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
- ^ Jacques, John (November 9, 2024). "Cavalry Cruises To Historic CPL Championship Win". Northern Tribune. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e "2024 CPL Competition Guidelines". Canadian Premier League. April 12, 2024. Archived from the original on April 12, 2024. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
- ^ a b "2024 Canadian Premier League Playoffs: Matchups and Schedule Confirmed" (Press release). Canadian Premier League. October 19, 2024. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
- ^ Rhodes, Benedict (September 21, 2024). "Forge FC, Atlético Ottawa clinch 2024 CPL Playoffs spots, Cavalry one point away". Canadian Premier League. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
- ^ Gangué-Ruzic, Alexandre (October 6, 2024). "Recap: Valour FC 0-1 Forge FC — CPL Match #103". Canadian Premier League. Archived from the original on October 6, 2024. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
- ^ Tierney, Mitchell (October 14, 2023). "Highlights: Cavalry FC vs. Forge FC (Oct. 14, 2023)". onesoccer.ca. Archived from the original on October 25, 2023. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e "Canadian Premier League Confirms 2024 Final Host, Remaining Playoffs Schedule" (Press release). Toronto, ON: Canadian Premier League. October 27, 2024. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
- ^ a b c "CBC Sports To Provide Broadcast Coverage of 2024 Canadian Premier League Final" (Press release). CBC. October 9, 2024. Archived from the original on October 9, 2024. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
- ^ a b Jacques, John (October 9, 2024). "CBC Sports Will Broadcast The 2024 Canadian Premier League Final". Northern Tribune. Archived from the original on October 9, 2024. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
- ^ a b Greer, Remy (October 28, 2024). "Canadian Premier League Final will be held in Alberta Nov. 9". Lakeland Today. Great West Media. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
- ^ "Cavalry FC and Forge FC to play in CPL Final, Nov. 9 at ATCO Field". Canadian Premier League. November 2, 2024. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
- ^ Jacques, John (October 7, 2024). "Forge Clinches CPL Shield". Northern Tribune. Retrieved October 23, 2024.